Panicker’s Travels, a pioneer in package tours in the country, is all set to enter the 50th year of its operations in 2015. The Delhi-based player, handling thousands of travellers every day to various locations, is incidentally the first operator in north India to have plied Volvo coaches on Indian roads when it introduced the Volvo B7R Series buses in its fleet. The company currently has a fleet size of 100 vehicles, of which 20 are Volvo buses and the rest are of other brands.
Built from scratch by Mr. E.R.C. Panicker in 1965, the company now holds leadership position in package tours in the country. Having clocked a turnover of Rs. 30 crores in FY14, the company is confident of sustained growth in the coming years once the economy picks up.
We managed to catch up with Mr. E.R.C. Panicker’s son, Mr. Babu Panicker, who is at the helm of the company affairs since 1987. Mr. Babu Panicker states: “Over the last 50 years, we have been able to carve our niche by providing cost-efficient tours through our network of services in India to suit the individual traveller’s requirements. We are the the only company offering every travel experience, be it leisure, wildlife, pilgrimage et al, suiting every budget from luxury to economy. The kind of friendly service and hospitality we offer remains unmatched.”
The genesis of the company is quite interesting. It was floated as a single bus operating travel agency in 1965 by Babu’s esteemed father, who is an adventurer in faith, and had started the travel service with meagre resources. He was working in Indian Cofee House, located at the heart of Delhi (Cannaught Place). As it was a very happening place during that era (with no Barista or Cafe Cofee Day at that time), people from all walks of life used to walk in. A lot of people were travel freaks and wanted to visit Taj Mahal, but tickets were not available.
When somebody gave a suggestion to Mr. E.R.C. Panicker to roll out a bus service to Agra, he found it a win-win situation and put a board in the Coffee House that stated there would be a bus to Agra every Sunday. To further his objective, he hired a bus and took the passengers to Agra every Sunday, which later on became a week-end service. Later he offered a Delhi sight-seeing package as part of his services. The company shifted its office to Karol Bagh, following which the business started flourishing.
The Customer is King
Panicker’s Travels is an exciting story of dedicated hard work ensuring friendly services for the pilgrimage/picnic tourists clock-round and year-round. Its booking and service offices are located at major cities across the country, with its package tours covering all the important tourist destinations in and around Delhi-NCR and also other parts of north India. The company’s motto is ‘service to customers’ as its founder literally believed that ‘the Customer is the King’ which, in turn, made its customers place trust in the dedication and commitment of the brand.
When asked about the evolution of the bus travel market in the country, Mr. Babu observed: “For 35 years, we were using only normal buses which were based on truck chassis. Earlier it was 3/2 (seat configurations) kind of business with very less comfort and vehicles with no air-conditioning. Later, the 2/2 seats came in. The first air-conditioned buses, which came in only after the 80s, actually had a retro-fitted AC. Before Sutlej Motors entered the market, most of the buses were built by the unorganised players, and later on, Azad Body Builders also came in, followed by Volvo. Earlier, we could buy the chassis for around Rs. 3 lakhs with another Rs. 3 lakhs spent on building the bodies. At that time, Sutlej buses were available for Rs. 30 lakhs with Volvo introducing its first bus in 2001 with a Rs. 45-lakh price-tag. We opted for Volvo as the main advantage was that they were 12-metre buses which could seat 45 passengers instead of 30, as in the case of other buses. This was in 2004 when we became Volvo Buses’ first customer in North India.”
In its initial phase, Panicker’s was running Tata Motors buses and later included Ashok Leyland vehicles in its fleet. By now, the company has gravitated to opting only for Volvo buses which has become an extension of its family. “When we expand our fleet, we will prefer Volvo as we have developed good rapport with them since 2004. This is because we know our customers’ taste and they (Volvo) know our taste. We know what the passenger demands and Volvo fulfils that perfectly. Moreover, their customer service support is world-class and the mileage delivered is higher vis-a-vis other buses,” shared Mr. Babu Panicker.
He added: “One of our prestigious routes is Delhi-Agra, and we would like to give the maximum comfort to passengers for the same. We were one of the firsts to offer Volvo bus service to Agra and that had given us a lot of dividends.”
Panicker’s Travels has grown from strength to strength, expanded from city to city and also from heart to heart. The National Tourism Award (2005-06) from the Government for Best Domestic Tour Operator is testimony to its excellence in quality service in the country’s domestic tourism industry. The company believes that with a uniform tax structure, elimination of inter-State toll taxes, stable government and a further boost in infrastructure development, the Indian tourism industry can definitely go places in the years to come.